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The
Policy Role of
the United States
in South Asia:
Constraints
& Opportunities for Pakistan
Columnist
TAUQEER H. TAKI SIRGANA analyzes the foreign policy
objectives
of the US in South Asia and its impact on Pakistan.
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Introduction
The ongoing strategic review in U.S. foreign policy
objectives has recently unveiled a new US policy for
Pakistan, and Afghanistan to disrupt, dismantle, and
defeat the Al-Qaeda. This confused and ambiguous strategic
thought based on usually failed intelligence further
states that the Al-Qaeda is actively planning attacks
on US from safe havens in Pakistan. Unfolding a new
US strategy to defeat Taliban and Al-Qaeda, US President
Obama said that Pakistan must be ‘stronger partner’
in destroying Al-Qaeda safe havens. In this connection,
he said Pakistan would be provided financial assistance
of 1.5 billion dollars each year for the next five
years. Will it work or not? Is Obama trying to meet
with increasing challenges of terrorism or is he promoting
the very best interests of U.S. in the region? Both
questions are not time-tested as today political means
have nothing to do with statements or actions. What
is important to understand about the U.S. interests
in the region is their history........more
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 A
New Dawn
Columnist Gp Capt SM
HALI (Retd) reviews the new book of pictorial
history on the PAF.
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Introduction
The title of the article would imply that I was alluding
to the emancipation of Pakistan’s judiciary
and the restoration of the Chief Justice of Pakistan
and other deposed judges; however, the reference is
to PAF’s new book with the same title. ‘The
Pakistan Air Force 1998-2008: A New Dawn’ was
launched by the outgoing Air Chief, Air Chief Marshal
(ACM) Tanvir Mahmood Ahmad a day before the handed
the mantle of PAF’s command to his successor
Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman. ‘A new
dawn’ is the fifth in the series of books on
PAF history, the first being ‘History of the
Pakistan Air Force 1947-1982’ by Syed Shabbir
Husain and Squadron Leader M. Tariq Qureshi. It was
followed by ‘Battle for Pakistan’ by John
Fricker, essentially an account of the 1965 Pak-India
War. Not satisfied with the 1947-1982 history, which
was compiled in the era of ACM Anwar Shamim, a new
account was commissioned by ACM Jamal A Khan. Thus
‘The Story of the Pakistan Air Force’
was compiled by Air Commodore M Zafar Masood, euphemistically
known as “Mitty Masood”, covering the
era 1947-1988. ACM PQ Mehdi asked Air Marshal Rashid
Sheikh to compile ‘The Story of The Pakistan
Air Force 1988-1998’, which was launched in
2000.......more
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ECO:
Prospects and Constraints
Columnist MEHMOOD-UL-HASSAN
KHAN reviews the recently concluded
ECO Summit in Tehran.
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We
The 10th summit meeting of the Economic Cooperation
Organisation (ECO) was held in Tehran on March 11
wherein the need to establish a free trade area
in ECO region by 2015 was stressed upon. According
to the ECO’s trade agreement all the member
countries should lower trade duties to 15% on 80%
of goods traded within eight years. ECO is an international
organization composed of 10 countries namely, Afghanistan,
Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan,
Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
President Asif Ali Zardari attended the meeting.
He acknowledged the significance of regional cooperation
as an essential mechanism to accelerate economic
and social progress, development and stability in
the region. He reaffirmed his commitment to ECO’s
goals and objectives as envisaged in the Izmir Treaty,
the ECO vision 2015 and other basic documents as
well as the declarations of the previous summit
meetings.........more
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India's Top Secret N - Submarine Project
Columnist
AHMAD HAROON outlines some features of the ATV, India's
first Nuclear Submarine that is nearing completion.
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In
India’s super secret nuclear-powered submarine
(SSN) programme, known as the Advanced Technology
Vessel (ATV) project is near completion.
For over a quarter of a century, the Advanced Technology
Vessel (ATV) has been among the most highly-classified
government programmes, it was announced publicly only
in Dec, 2007 when the Indian naval chief, Admiral
Sureesh Mehta, became the first government official
to officially confirm the existence of the Advanced
Technology Vessel (ATV).
Construction of the 5,000-tonne ATV, a modified version
of the Russian submarine Charlie-II class is now nearly
complete, and will be launched for sea trials this
year and is expected to be inducted into service around
2010-11. Plans are underway for a production line
consisting of five ATVs; the second one will start
building in Vizag as soon as the first is launched.
The nuclear submarine is being built at the naval
shipyard at Visakhapatnam port on the Bay of Bengal
and is a joint project involving several government
and private organisations, including the Navy, the
Defence Research and Development Organisation once
headed by former president Abdul Kalam, and the Bhabha
Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai, which is the main
facility for producing India’s nuclear bombs.......more
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How
to Be Firm in Faith?
The
Nine Pragmatic Principles
Columnist
Brig AFTAB AHMAD KHAN ® dilates upon the nine
principles identified by renowned scholar Shaikh Ali
Al-Tantawi that help to create firmness in Faith through
pragmatic conviction.
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“There
shall be no coercion in the matters of Faith.
Distinct has now become the right way form error:”
(Qur’an 2:256)
“He throws filth (of disbelief) on
those who do not use their reason”.
(Qur’an 10:100)
Introduction
It is a common observation that generally people
do not take much interest in religious studies
which may also be attributed to their wavering
faith. Imagine if majority of people in society
firmly have faith in One God, the accountability,
reward and punishment on the Day of Judgement,
we should have found this world in a state of
‘peace’ not turmoil. The faith is
not fixed in its character, it may increase
or decrease: “..they were youths who believed
in their Lord and We advanced them in guidance:”
(Qur’an 18:13). The foundation of faith
in Islam (Iman) is the belief in God (Allah)
which is characterized by three main aspects,
firstly, God is the Cherisher and the creator
of the Universe and all that it holds; Secondly,
God alone is the Master of this world and He
alone can make modifications in it as He wishes
and thirdly, God alone is worthy of worship,
He has no associates and there is no one besides
him to be worshipped. Before making an effort
to understand this and other fundamentals of
faith, it is imperative to comprehend the circumstances
which influence the genesis of these fundamentals
which are responsible for their arrangement
and anthology.......more
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Exploring
Media Framing on Talibanization
in Pakistan
Columnist
Dr SYED ABDUL SIRAJ conducts an evaluation of the
Pakistani media's strategy in reporting the conflict
between the Taliban and security forces.
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Abstract
The Pakistani media gives an unfavorable rather
than a favorable slant to Taliban in the overall coverage.
The four most prominent indicators of framing Taliban
in war journalism were ‘differences-oriented’,
‘elite-oriented’, ‘dichotomy of
good guy and bad guy’ and ‘zero-sum-oriented’.
The four most salient indicators supporting Taliban
in peace journalism frame were ‘solution-oriented’,
‘people-oriented’, ‘causes and effects’
and ‘multi-party oriented’.
Introduction
Taliban ranks consist of local tribesmen, students
of religious seminaries and few foreigner Jihadis
who are against the Pakistani government for its support
in the war on terror and want an Islamic system in
the areas of their control. This study takes Taliban
as being the Pakistani Taliban who may have resemblance
with those who ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s. They
along with other Afghans and foreigners defeated the
then USSR army in Afghanistan. After the Soviets’
defeat in Afghanistan, the Taliban got control over
most of the territory of Afghanistan in 1996 and imposed
a combination of Islamic rigid laws and Pashto fundamental
culture/traditional values. This stringency in governance
earned a lot of animosity for them......more
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Free
V/S Responsible Media
Role of academia in bringing a change
Dr SEEMI
NAGHMANA TAHIR focuses upon the declining standard
of media and the role of academia in bringing about
a change.
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Abstract
For almost 41 years the Media in Pakistan had
to confront the restrictions on them. There were
major policy shifts in the years 1988 and 2002,
paving the way for a comparatively free print and
electronic media in the country. Consequently there
was a mushroom growth in the field. The masses welcomed
the openness with a lot of enthusiasm that brought
a great sense of participation in the public affairs
among them. After passage of few years new questions
have started arising regarding the role of media
in general and the electronic media in particular
with regard to credibility, quality and objectivity
of the content vis-à-vis a sense of responsibility
on part of the media itself. These issues though
directly related to the ethical debates going on
globally but at the same time have become a matter
of great concern for the academia as well. The role
of academia in providing skilled professionals for
the media on the other hand has always been undermined
by the media industry throughout the world. Having
more stress on training instead of teaching, they
had expressed strong reservations on teaching and
training patterns of Mass Communication or Media
Studies at institutional level. This paper will
critically explore the various issues the media
landscape in Pakistan is confronted with, especially
the way the media is utilizing its most cherished
freedom. This author will also analyze the way this
newly found freedom could be linked with a sense
of responsibility on part of the media for the society
it serves. The Universities and other institutions
have a greater role to play in this connection,
and need to have even more stress on teaching of
theoretical perspectives and separate courses on
media effects and also on mass media ethics, this
author feels...........more
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